February 16, 2011

Students, union members, and others protested the new governor's budget plan. I was working, but Meade went down and took a lot of video, which I've edited:

There's singing of the national anthem at the beginning and end of this video. In between, there's some chanting — "You know what's disgusting? Union busting!" — and "Don't Stop Believing" and drumming and so forth.

106 comments:

You know what's disgusting, sneaky snake Obama busting the Israeli government's political control over Jerusalem. If his lips are moving, then he is lying. Nobody is lying to this Teacher's PAC which wants to keep political control over Wisconsin.

All the Broohaha at the Capitol deflected attention from yesterday's election results. Here in Dane County, the conservative candidate, Eileen Bruskewitz, was one of the two top voter getters in a seven-person primary race for Dane County Executive.

If we are to be successful in convincing unorganized workers, as well as employers, congressmen, and the general public of the merits of labor's program, it is necessary that every union man and woman first understand the social and economic facts of our modern industrial life. If we are to ask the the membership of our union to decide economic questions intelligently and on their merits, it is first necessary that they have adequate knowledge of such questions. We have long since recognized that fact in our requirements for citizenship. Before an immigrant can be admitted to full responsibility of American citizenship, he must know something of the history and constitution of our country. Before a new member of the union can fully serve his organization, it is essential that he know its history and aims; also the problems confronting organized labor.

--Preface to ITU Lessons in Printing. Trade Unionism Unit VI (1958)

(I thought there was a little bit of something for everyone in there).

Walker should fire all the teachers, then use their salaries to buy IBM's Watson...who can then teach all the little children...

First lesson (in fun robot voice): Know at all times why you are where you are! Because when you're in the backseat of a car that gets pulled over with twelve blocks of heroin in the trunk, "I don't know why I'm here" isn't going to do anything in your favor.

Why is music taught in schools at all? It is entertainment, not a life skill. I can't read music or play an instrument, and don't miss it a lick. Every penny that was spent trying to teach me music in elementary school was an utter waste.

Frederer: I would be extra glad if the Gov. set his sights (sorry for the offensive violent implication) on the tenured and comfortable faculty and administration of the University of Wisconsin located in Madison. Thanks for asking.

I wonder if you will be so condescending and smarmy when Walker sets his budget axe on the flagship University and decides that even tenured professors can go.

Aside from the fact Freder/Alpha/Montaigne doesn't know the meaning of smarmy, I have the feeling Mrs Meade could support herself just fine. Unlike some, she's shown the ability to turn a hand to diverse pursuits.

Something everyone should try to develop, instead of relying on the taxpayers.

shoutingthomas said...

I wonder if you will be so condescending and smarmy when Walker sets his budget axe on the flagship University and decides that even tenured professors can go.

Fred, you seem to have missed all those references to Althouse's salary.

She's been earning a very substantial living for decades. I'll bet she's got a bundle in the bank. She's also got a pretty hefty pension coming.

And your problem with that is...?

If she's done what you say, it's no more than what everyone should do - prepare for all eventualities, don't rely on any one source for her retirement.

Freder; you fail the logic test when you overlook the salient fact the Althouse has a skill. She could make more money outside of the university as a consultant and not have to put up with a bunch of whiney 20-somethings fighting tort reform.

It is obvious you have never been cross-examined by some law school putz-of-a-lawyer trying to make a point with pitiful plea; "How does that make you feeeeeel" while floundering with inconvenient facts.

Things of quality have no fear of time! That is a truism which trumps your appeal to the perpetuation of mediocrity on full display in Madison and your pathetic whining.

This was always going to happen to the Democratic Party controlled states.

Businesses were fleeing places like Michigan, Wisconsin, and California to places like Texas and Louisiana, where the business environment isn't punishing and the small businessman isn't treated as a tax donkey. Behind all of that is the shadow of China, acting as a magnet for businesses to flee the United States for the land of cheap labor and little regulation. What this portends for Obamaism and the Progressive Democrats is ominous, as the trend in the States acts as a bellwether for what comes later in National politics.

Even Governor Moonbeam is causing a debate between the Public Employee Union faction within his party and the "Public Investment In Roads" faction in the One Party State that is California. The Republicans aren't really part of the debate; but the debate has even begun out there. The Bell has begun to Toll for Progressivism.

Progressives such as Obama never counted on a fluid market in Labor and Capital. Their ideology was much more of a fit for the period when the United States was an autarky, between the end of the War and, say, 1967. The rise of global competition and the rise of the personal computer has put an end to the intellectual rationale for "Big Government". Progressives just don't know it yet.

They are fighting a rearguard action, much like Marxists in the late 1980's during the Gorbachev ascendancy. They just don't know it yet. Progressive politics and Wall Street looting have pissed away the seed corn of an entire generation. It's not just Obama that's pursuing archaic and obsolete politics, it's his entire cohort of True Believers. In the long run, they are about as relevant to the future as Bob Avakian and the Revolutionary Communist Youth Brigade. But the reality of the situation has yet to come crashing in on them quite yet.

It will. And when it does, the future will sweep them away into what we call the history books.

What the future will be, what Walter Russell Mead calls "liberalism 5.0", we don't quite know yet. But it will come. It just won't be what we are seeing in Washington now.

Racine Unified, the state's fourth-largest school district, just announced the cancellation of school due to staff absences. The announcement came at 6:15 a.m. when kids are already out waiting for buses. So now they are just holding kids who turn up at school until their parents can pick them up.

I got a hint yesterday when my 5th grader came home and said her teacher told them that she was feeling nauseous and wasn't coming to work today. Nice going teachers.

"I wonder if you will be so condescending and smarmy when Walker sets his budget axe on the flagship University and decides that even tenured professors can go."

It's clearly understood by all of the faculty here (or at least should be) that budget considerations are the most likely reason a law-abiding tenured professor would be fired. We have been warned that such may be the case in the near future. Our department is (using the formula that the university administration goes by) understaffed by 9-10 positions (roughly 25 instead of 35). Some departments are overstaffed, though they would understandably squeal if they were cut back to 100% staffing before any other departments suffered any cuts (such squealing is understandable, but not defensible, IMO).

I certainly don't make nearly as much as Althouse, nor have I been a faculty member for nearly as long, so I don't really have much of anything money-wise (and I opted out of the defined benefits plan precisely because I didn't trust the state to keep a promise to pay me for decades after I'm retired). If I lose my job I can't leisurely search for some other endeavor, I have to get money coming in immediately, and I'll tote wood in the hot sun, flip burgers, and/or work at a grain elevator if that's what it takes.

If my position gets cut or the state decides it doesn't want to be in the higher education business, know what I'll do? Something else, that's what.

Wow, this is still a pretty big deal in Wisconsin, eh? I'll have to go review more of the photos. Nothing better than watching these "teachers" take off their masks and reveal their true selves.Anyone know what would happen to a Wisconsin student who drew a picture of a teacher being hung to death and walked all over town with it? I'm guessing at least a 72-hour evaluation, probably an arrest. Wonder what'll happen to the fat hog teacher who drew the one of Walker being killed? A raise or a promotion?

In colleges Budget cutting has already become necessary because the tax collections are short due to a shortage of jobs that are not yet in China. The abuse is that class size is doubling and pay/benefit cuts are being applied while the super sized salaries of unnecessary Administrators are growing. The only thing that Administrators produce are "Reports" done by delegating additional work to the Professors who are already carrying a doubled student load.

the super sized salaries of unnecessary Administrators are growing. The only thing that Administrators produce are "Reports" done by delegating additional work to the Professors who are already carrying a doubled student load.

Here in Colorado the democrats are talking about cutting school programs. No talk of reforming the Teacher's Union Ponzi scheme PERA.(Public Employees Retirement Association)

See - our kids can take the cuts, but our precious union workers cannot take even a tiny decrease in retirement bonanza. In fact, many school teachers in CO retire early and then double dip.

Yeah - because the democrat party cares so much for our kids and their education.

Shared sacrifice? My ass.

Our former governor ushered in the era of public union organization, even though the majority of the voters in CO were against it. Now our new governor is also in the tank with the union machine. The tax payers and our kids are screwed once again. Thanks democrat/union alliance.

I hope you (and she) realize that part of the idea behind busting the unions, which you are so gleeful about, is so that the pension commitments can be reneged on.

Who said I was gleeful about breaking unions?

We yokels in the private sector can't afford to pay the bill for the lavish salaries and benefits of the public sector. As has been pointed out in these comments, there is such a thing as mathematics.

Do you think that financial reality should enter into these discussions. Or, should we just continue to cave into the demands of public employees, even if it means continuing to tax the private sector into poverty?

The poisonous tone of your comments indicates to me that you are a spoiled child who refuses to admit that financial reality exists.

How come you never bring up the Republican/Libertarian paradise of Texas, which has one of the largest budget gaps in the country, close to 30 billion dollars? We know conservatism can never fail, only we can fail it, so what hell happened??

The people of Wisconsin have spoken. They elected a Republican Governor who promised to try to heal the budget crisis. Of course, now the Teachers Unions hate the voters for forcing them to work, so they'll do everything short of rioting (physical cowardice will probably prevent them from acting on their violent impulses) to get back at the citizens of Wisconsin.Take a good long look at the spittle-flecked "activists" outside the Statehouse. Those are the dregs who are supposedly educating your children. Disgusting.

The people of Wisconsin have spoken. They elected a Republican Governor who promised to try to heal the budget crisis.

This. Sort of. The Governor mostly campaigned as anti-Obama and anti-train, and I'll bring 250K jobs to Wisconsin. Anyway, the daughter was in tears about this whole thing yesterday, as she pretty much loves all her teachers, and I think she was pretty tired too and unwinding from a long day, and one thing we pointed out is that when you live in a Representative Democracy, there are things that sometimes happen that stick in your craw and you can either crawl into a hole or you can figure out a way to adapt.

The people of Wisconsin have spoken. They elected a Republican Governor who promised to try to heal the budget crisis.

The people of your State voted for the Governor and the other Legislators and should expect that they do their duty and carry out the promises that they made to the voters.

Just because a bunch of greedy, spoiled, ill mannered union thugs can take off from work and drag a herd of children along with them as virtual body shields, does not mean that the Governor and Legislature should cave in.

The funniest thing in all this is how liberals expect the rest of us to see union members as an exploited, victim class, when exactly the opposite is true. Government workers and union members are the privileged class, and the rest of us know it.

We've been hearing about their vacation days, benefits and pensions for years now. Did they think we would just let them keep taking more and more, regardless of the consequences?

Anyway, the daughter was in tears about this whole thing yesterday, as she pretty much loves all her teachers,

THIS is what is wrong with the way the teachers and the teachers unions are handling this. They are brainwashing the children and USING them in the most cynical way for their own selfish purposes.

No one is going to harm your daughter's teachers. They may have to spend some of their money for the same things that the rest of us have to......retirement and health insurance.

They will be given the ability to choose whether to belong to the Union or not. They will be allowed a secret ballot, just like all voters should be allowed. They will not be able to strong arm the voters into ever increasing costs anymore because the negotiation of the two most budget busting items will be off the table.

It isn't going to KILL them. They aren't going to be tortured.

How DARE they make your daughter cry. What in the WORLD are they telling her at school.

If it were me, I would be down at the school and some heads would roll.

Why wouldn't some tax payers sue the union or the teachers for fraud? I mean there are videos and pictures out there. If you're at the rally, you're not actually sick, so you are defrauding the taxpayers by being paid to oppose the taxpayers.

It's funny how recollections can vary from person to person. I seem to remember very little anti-Obama and a great deal of discussion on Wisconsin's budget problems. I guess, to some degree, that we all hear what we want to hear. I do agree that Walker was clearly against the train.

THIS is what is wrong with the way the teachers and the teachers unions are handling this. They are brainwashing the children and USING them in the most cynical way for their own selfish purposes.

Oh knock off the hyperbole. This is my daughter, and how she reacts to frustration. She has all the passion of any youth, and she feels things pretty deeply when she perceives unfairness. It's almost like she's a middle child, not the oldest. And I daresay she's got my bullshit detector, so she's got that going for her as well.

She reported she saw a person holding a sign I support Gov. Walker and she found the discussions between the woman holding the sign and others very interesting. From what she said, it seemed like a cordial, if animated, discussion.

garage, considering that the stimulus money was taken from the states in the first place - in the form of taxes, regulatory burdens, and costs offloaded via unfunded mandates - it's hardly hypocritical for a state to make responsible use of those funds when the federal government deigns to return it to them.

So did Obama, but that didn't stop tea partiers from crashing the gates, did it?

It also didn't stop Obama from passing massive legislation his political opponents opposed.

So, it's all the same. Like Obama said, winning matters.

The Tea Party went to the streets to make sure at least one party was willing to be different, and then to elect those people into office. So, if the people oppose this present legislation, let them change the state government.

Also, the tea party, as far as I can remember, didn't shut down major public institutions. So, there's that.

Oh knock off the hyperbole. This is my daughter, and how she reacts to frustration. She has all the passion of any youth, and she feels things pretty deeply when she perceives unfairness. It's almost like she's a middle child, not the oldest. And I daresay she's got my bullshit detector, so she's got that going for her as well.

I've got to agree with DBQ.

Using children as human shields to advance your political agenda is revolting.

Yes, Garage, but these Teachers are being paid by the Government while they are "striking". Do you not see the difference? Not to mention that this one rally produced more violent and hateful signs than months of Tea Parties. Real nice people you hang out with. Do you guys tell a lot of Hitler/lynching jokes when nobody else is around?

The problem with your argument about Texas is that it misses some key points. The first point is that Texans paid more in federal taxes than they received back, even with the stimulus money. So, it is not Texas overspending that's the problem. Second, imagine what would happen if Gov. Perry refused to take back any of the tax money the federal government took from Texans? Yep, Texans would have had a budget shortfall that would have to be corrected. The good news is, Texas actually has a "Rainy Day" fund, which brings me to the final point. Texas doesn't have a debt other than its obligation as part of the federal union. In fact, Texas has money saved and put aside.

So please Garage, tell us more about your ignorance of Texas. Wisconsin teachers may be calling in sick, but I'm happy to school you.

Busting public employee unions is awesome, not disgusting. The Military can't have a union and we have much more harsher working conditions. Other public employees don't need one. The only people who will miss the PE unions will be the Democrats and fatcat union bosses and other leeches dependant on forced union dues.

I don't care if private employees unionize, thats between them and the company.

"It's very easy to say Oh, they just want to keep their cushy benefits but that's not actually what the protests are about."

It's easy because we've all seen this play out dozens of times. If those cushy benefits were still in place, the Teachers would be in their classrooms right now. That's the reality. They don't need "collective bargaining", they need a collective "do your fucking job".

If my recollection is correct, Tea Party demonstrators were not allowed to enter the Capitol with signs. How is it that union protestors are being allowed to sleep in the Capitol building and carry signs?

I learned while listening to the radio this morning that collective bargaining was a civil right. And to think, I've lived all these years without knowing my civil rights were being violated. Who knew?

"Republican/Libertarian paradise of Texas, which has one of the largest budget gaps in the country, close to 30 billion dollars?"

BS!

The Texas legislature meets only 140 days every two years, all Texas budget numbers cover two years.

If we in Texas do nothing we would have in two years a $24 billion deficit. Of course, we have $10 billion in savings also that we don't plan to touch.

The difference between Texas and states run by garage-like idiots is that there is no possibility that our Legislature or Governor will significantly raise taxes.

Instead Texas is cutting state spending to match state income!

There are going to be layoffs of government workers, state services will be cut.

In my blue home town of Austin the school district is looking at laying off 1000 employees and closing several recently constructed schools, all because the local school board has been spending like drunken sailors.

Cuts in the red part of Texas, which is most of it, will be much less.

And in two years we'll be in far, far, far better shape than any of the pathetic blue states.